Certain phenyl sulfonamide polymers have been known at least since the late 1960's. R. W. Angelo et al., in IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, vol. 11, No. 7 (Dec. 1968), disclosed condensing m-benzene disulfonyl chloride with hexamethylene diamine to form a phenyl sulfonamide polymer. Said publication further disclosed crosslinking polystyrene with then sulfonamide linkages which in turn can be treated to form the corresponding sulfonic acid or acid chloride which, when treated with a diamine such as hexamethylene diamine, forms a polystyrene sulfonamide.
European Patent Application published on Sep. 11, 1996, EP 0 731 388 A2, discloses styryl and methacryl-based sulfornamide-containing polymers. T. X. Neenan et al., Microelectronics Technology, ACS Symposium Series 614, (Apr. 2-6, 1995), pp.194-206, also discuss styrylmethylsulfonamides. These specific polymers are said to be useful as photoresists, but they are deficient because they are not easily soluble in photoresist compatible solvents, such as propyleneglycol methyl ether acetate. PCT Patent Application published Sep. 12, 1997, WO 97/33198, discloses addition-type polymers of norbornene-type monomers, some containing functional groups such as carboxyl groups or esters, that may be obtained by polymerizing such monomers in the presence of Group VIII metal catalysts. European Patent Application published Aug. 13, 1997, EP 0 789 278 A2, discloses ROMP polymers obtained by polymerizing norbornene-type monomers that may contain functional substituents other than sulfonamides, by using well known metathesis catalysts. European Patent Application published Sep. 10, 1997, EP 0 794 458 A2, discloses the preparation of cyclic olefin copolymers, such as a norbornene/maleic anhydride and norbornene/maleic anhydride/acrylate, using free radical polymerization. None of the above mentioned publications disclose NB sulfonamides.
The preparation of fluorine-containing sulfonamide norbornenes is described by A. O. Kas'yan et al., Ukr. Gos. Khim-Tekhnol. Univ., Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, Zh. Org. Khim. (1995), 357-64. CODEN:ZORKAE; ISS 0514-7492. CAN 124:145481.